Improvement in railway-switches



T. ALEXANDER & W. DUNN;

RAILWAY SWITCH.

'N0.187,578. "Patented Feb. 20,1877.

N, PETERS. PHOTO LTHOGR THOMAS ALEXANDER AND WILLI M DUNN, OE sr. MARYS,ONTARIO,

OAN DA.

, IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY-SWITCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 113 57578, datedFebruary 20, 1877 application filed March 25, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, THOMAS ALEXANDER andWILLIAM DUNN, both of St. Marys, in the county of Perth, in the Provinceof Ontario and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Rail- Way-Switches; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which willenable others skilled in the art. to which it appertains to made and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

The object of this invention is to construct a switch that will permit.of the main or through line of rail always remaining closed, even whilea train is being switched ofi the main line onto a siding; and itconsists in the combination of the ordinary frog-switch with a pivotedrail attachment, in the manner hereinafter more fullydescribed, andpointed out in the claim.

In the drawing, A is the road-bed, and B are the sleepers. U 0 denotethe rails of the through or main line, and D D those at the siding. Theswitch (denoted by E) consists of frogs e, which slide sidewise upon thesleepers or cross-ties B. ,The frogs e terminate at their points inshort rail attachments F, which are pivoted at f to thecross-tie B,opposite to the termination of the rails of the main line- O, as shown.

G is the cross-bar uniting the rail attachments F F to the frogs e '0',and H is a similar bar uniting the forked ends of the frogs e 6. Bar His operated by means of an arm, H, by a switch-lever, in the usualmanner. Affixed to the cross-ties, opposite to each point of the frogs ee, are safety-blocks I, so arranged that when the main line is closedthe point of the frog will lie close against the block, thus preventingthe train from getting off that branch of the frog which leads to themain line. When the switch is thrown so as to switch offa train onto thesiding, (as shown in the dotted line in the drawing,) a space is formedbetween the point of each frog and the safety-block I sufficient toallow the flange of the wheel to pass.

From the foregoing description the operation and advantages of ourimproved switch will be readily understood.

When .the switch is thrown to run a train Onto the siding, as shown inthe dotted line, the main line remains closed, so that there is nopossibility of the train running off the track. With. the old style ofswitch the operation of switching one of the trains onto the sidingleaves the main line open, thus endangering the through trains; but withour improved switch, which forms at all times a continuous line of rail,the main line will always remain closed, so that a through train maypass on after a way train has been switched off, and before there hasbeen time to readjust the switch.

Having thus described our invention, we claim and desire to'secure byLetters Patent of the United States- The main rails U G, frogs e e,having'singlerail attachments F F, safetyblocks 1,,rails U 0, andsiding-rails D D, all combined and arranged to operate substantially inthe manner and for the purpose shown and. specified.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereunto.afiixed'our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS ALEXANDER. WILLIAM DUNN.

Witnesses GEORGEH. MAoFAELANE, JAs. COLEMAN.

